Hi everyone, thanks for leaving all the comments on our blog! Unfortunately, the internet connection went down on about the 3rd day of our trip, when we sailed North in the Polaris boat (satellites don't go that far up!), so our blog has fallen way behind. Now that we're back in the UK, we'll all post an entry telling you all about the highlights of our amazing trip. Here is mine.
Having boarded our ice-breaker boat, we sailed all up the west coast of Svalbard, frequently going out in the zodiac motor-boats to visit abandoned towns, whaling stations and tracker camps. One place that I'll always remember is Barentsburg: a Russian settlement of around 500 people that still maintains a strictly communist way of living. These people have little to no connection with the rest of the world. The men work in the coal mine, and there is a school with 9 children in it. Every month, each person recieves the same amount of electrical points, only of value in Barentsburg, with which to buy food. In the main street there is a large statue of Lenin, and written on the hillside is 'Peace across the World'. It gives you a fresh view on life to see that such places can still exist.
A few days later, passing through a narrow fjord, we saw a male polar bear, carrying a large fish in its mouth, on the moutainside. To actually see such a large and elusive mammal in the wild was amazing. During the trip we also saw minke whales, fin whales, seals, arctic foxes, walruses and puffins.
On about the 7th day, we reached the pack ice at 81 degrees North. Some of us, including me, were lucky enough to stand on the ice - if we kept walking for about 90km, we'd reach the North Pole. At that point, we were probably about the furthest North children in the world.
You may have seen pictures on the BBC (google 'BBC project polar') of us swimming in the Arctic Ocean - apparently, if you stay in for 5 mins, you freeze to death! Running in and running back out again was long enough for me.
On the last day, we went dog-wagonning back in Longyearbyen - all the dogs were soooo cute!! They can go up to 60km per day, and apparently work best at -10 to -15 degrees celcius!
I made some great friends during the trip (we're already planning reunions) and met some inspiring scientists. Please keep commenting on this blog, and check the edge and BBC project polar websites for more photos. Thankyou SO much to Edge for organising this trip; it has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I'll always remember. Any kids reading this HAVE to apply for next year's competition - the prize is absolutely unbeatable. I have now got a terrible case of 'Svalbard Sickness', as the locals call it: those who go to Svalbard once tend to return again and again, and again, and again.....
